Dates Traveled: Various times between September-December 2002; April-May 2003; Few days in December 2005
(I’d also traveled here in June 1999, but that trip is without details)

Thailand - Koh Lanta

It was the off-season, so I had the guesthouse all to myself - cheap beachside bungalow, beautiful beach, fantastic Thai food, and gorgeous sunsets to admire while dining. Jealous? If not, then why do I do this?!?

Bangkok

The 16-hour train trip from the southern town of Trang up to Bangkok was a pleasant surprise. The last second-class sleeper train I’d been on was in India, but this Thai version was 5-star in comparison. Around 8 PM an employee came to make up the sleeper - of which there were only 2 up a wall as opposed to 3 in India. The mattress was fairly thick; there was a bed sheet, pillow and pillowcase, blanket, and curtain on the aisle. There was also a light and some hooks in the bunk. Definitely quite a bit more upscale than in India.

In Bangkok I met up with Sabine, an Austrian friend I’d shared a dog dinner with in Indonesia. We wandered around there for a few days, taking in the carnival-like atmosphere of the traveler’s hangout - Khao San Road. It has everything - street cafes/pubs; food carts for the ultimate travelers food - chocolate/banana pancakes, spring rolls, and pad Thai; souvenir shops; street vendors hawking everything…mirrored disco balls?!?; people on the street to braid your hair; street side shops to buy cheap, copied CD’s; 7-Eleven grocery stores; and restaurants that show movies at night. We also hit the Grand Palace, which I’ve always found to be an impressive compound, as well as the temple complex of Wat Po and it’s 46 meter reclining Buddha. Like Kathmandu, Bangkok is a chaotic, noisy, filthy city….but one that always brings a smile to my face. Vibrant.

Relaxing on Koh Samet

From Bangkok we took the 3 1/2 hour van ride to Ban Phe and the 45-minute boat ride out to the island of Koh Samet. We stayed on the island for 5 days….five extremely stressful days. Lazy starts; late breakfast on the fine white-sand beach; lying on the beach reading and catching some rays; traditional Thai massages on the beach; candle-light dinner on the beach…waves lapping at the shore; and a stop at the open-air pub for drinks, music, and to watch the nightly fire show - baton twirling and fire breathing. A tough life.

Pattaya

On our way back to Bangkok we decided to check out the town of Pattaya - an internationally known seat of decadence. It got to the point where, if we saw a western man without a young Thai girl at his side, we thought something was wrong. It was as if he was missing an accessory. Pretty sad.

Bangkok

Back in Bangkok we wandered to the Patpong area for shopping - brand name knock-off articles at cheap prices. Patpong is also a well-known sex center, so there were plenty of go-go bars on the street level, and guys with ‘menus’ of the acts one could witness upstairs. We actually did opt to check out one of the upstairs shows - I’ll spare you the details, but the funniest part was that the women prayed to an altar of incense and candles before going onstage. Funniest thing I saw outside was a local kid - surrounded by clubs of strippers, hookers, and performers in various states of undress, reading an article on how to make cheese. You can’t make this stuff up.

Bridge Over the River Kwai

It was time for Sabine to fly back to Austria, and I had a few days before heading to Myanmar, so I decided to check out Kanchanaburi - 2 hours from Bangkok. What’s at Kanchanaburi? The bridge over the river Kwai (actually the Khwae Yai river)…..feel free to whistle the tune - I know I did. I checked out the bridge, as well as a good WWII museum, an allied cemetery, and a museum set in a bamboo hut similar to those used by the POW’s. I liked Kanchanaburi.